Cooper Valinski’s early bid for the Portsmouth High School boys soccer team on Tuesday was deflected just wide by the goalie. Soon after, another great chance was ruled offside.

There was more. Valinski took a through ball from Iani Stamenov for a breakaway but couldn’t get enough on his shot. Then Jackson Luff teed up a strike from the top of the box that was stopped by a diving save.

“It was disappointing,” said Luff. “That’s why we lost to Con-Val (on Friday, 2-1), in my opinion, because we just could not put the ball in. … It was a similar scenario.”

But, by the conclusion, a dissimilar result.

Luff scored in the lucky 13th minute, the floodgates opened after halftime and the Clippers (8-2-3) stayed in the running for a top-four finish in Division II with a 6-0 win, one that saw them score five times after the break.

“You get one in a game like this, you hope to get two, three and four,” said Portsmouth coach Caleb Paterson. “Credit Plymouth for keeping us from getting another one in the first half.”

Anthony March, Ian Stratos, Jono Harrison, Jeremy Sayers and Austin Helm all found the net in the second half. Goalie Tom Adler, on a day he was fighting illness and had his coach considering bringing up the JV goalie to spell him, was pretty much protected by his defense, aside from one bid by Plymouth’s Kyle Cox in the second half that hit the crossbar.

“The fact that we couldn’t even orchestrate one shot on goal in 80 minutes is frustrating,” said Plymouth coach Ken Wheeler.

The win keeps the Clippers in sixth place, right behind Pembroke (9-2-1) and Oyster River (9-2-2) for the coveted No. 4 spot in the Division II standings. That finisher would play at home for the prelims and quarterfinals, should it advance.

For Luff, a center midfielder and senior co-captain, the goal was the first of his career. After a good look in front by Valinski was blocked by goalie Jake Buford, Keenan Lisbon tracked down the ball on the right and fed it back to Luff, who stepped into a strike from 20 yards out that bulged the top left side of the net.

“It’s been a shot I’ve been hitting in practice for the last few weeks,” said Luff. “Keenan saw me, fed me and I just popped it in.”

Like the chances that preceded it, there were more that followed. But Buford saved some and others missed the net, and it was a delicate one-goal lead the Clippers, who hadn’t won in their last three matches, took to the break.

“To be sitting there at halftime with a 1-0 deficit … we were lucky,” said Wheeler.

Throughout the first half of games in his inaugural season as Portsmouth’s coach, Paterson takes notes on a pad, jotting down things he wants to address at halftime. But there weren’t many notes Tuesday.

“Usually, my notepad is filled,” he said. “Today, all I said was keep doing what you’re doing.”

Three minutes into the second half, Luff threaded a lead that March collected streaking down the left wing. He took it to the baseline, curled in front of the net and scored on his second kick after his first try was saved.

The goal that made it 3-0, not coming for another 21 minutes, was worth the wait, one of the prettiest of the season. March sent a waist-high cross from the left wing that Stratos, right in stride, deflected in.

Stratos, Sayers and Kienan Salvadore were also credited with assists in the game that blossomed into a rout in the final 11 minutes.

Plymouth (4-8-1) has seen several of the top teams, including first-place Windham, which it lost to, 7-0, on Friday.

“I’d say that Portsmouth possesses better,” said Wheeler.

Luff’s goal seemed in the distant past by the time the game was over but it was significant — both to him and the team, for a player who has broader responsibilities. He’s not the loudest of the team’s four captains, but he might be the steadiest.

“He manages the midfield,” said Paterson. “His vision is incredible. That’s the toughest thing to teach in this game.”